Royalty reigned supreme, and the punters rejoiced, in the $10,000 Maughan Thiem Ford Country Graduation Final (2230m) at Globe Derby Park on Saturday, April 4.
Three Queens, the well backed $1.50 favourite, led throughout from gate one and her rivals were left to acknowledge the Queen.
Flagbearer ($7.10) trailed the leader and had every chance but had to be content with a 5.7 metre second and Reil Quick ($20) was third, a further 13.2 metres back.
Driven by Jayson Finnis, son of trainer Barry, Three Queens rated 2:00:2 sprinting home her last quarter in 28.6 seconds.
Part-owner-breeder Peter Medhurst, from Glencoe in South Australia’s South-East, said he had never been sure of victory, even though betting suggested the mare was, and his friends kept telling him she couldn’t be beaten.
“I’ve been around long enough to know there is no such thing as a certainty,” Medhurst said. “But the race developed as we hoped it would.
“We were a bit unsure about how much action there would be early but it was always our intention to try and lead throughout.
“As the race developed Jayson was able to rate the mare as he wanted and I guess she had earned the respect of her rivals that no-one came to try and pressure us.”
Medhurst bred Three Queens out of his star broodmare Surfing Queen, currently the state’s broodmare of the year.
“She won a few races but is proving a star in the breeding barn,” he said.
“Apart from those racing, Surfing Queen has a three-year-old and two-year-old nearly ready to race as well as a foal at foot.”
Medhurst said Three Queens had been a late starter because she had a twisted leg as a young horse but with maturity the leg had corrected and she suffered no ill effects.
The Maughan Thiem Ford final was Three Queen’s ninth win from just 14 starts.
“We like to try and place our horses to use the handicapping system to pick up wins and the South Australian system enables up to do it better than in Victoria but we are going to have to head across the border soon.
“Later this year we will look to have a look at the better mares races in Victoria to see if Three Queens can measure up.”
